Abstract: In order to study the effect of drought stress on grain
yield, yield components and associated traits of durum wheat
cultivars, an experiment was done as split plot arrangement using
randomized complete block design with three replications in Ilam
province, Iran in 2009-2010 cropping season. Different levels of
irrigation (Full irrigation, drought stress at stem elongation,
Flowering and grain formation stages) were considered as a main plot
and three durum wheat cultivars (Yavaros, Seimareh and Karkheh)
were assigned as a sub plot. The results showed that drought stress
was significant on grain yield, spike.m-2, grain. Spike-1, 1000-grain
weight, biological yield, harvest index and protein content. Drought
stress at all stages caused a loss in grain yield and its components.
Full irrigation had the highest grain yield and yield components.
Drought stress at stem elongation, flowering and grain formation
stages caused a reduction in spike.m-2, grain.spike-1 and 1000-grain
weight, respectively. Protein content was significantly affected by
drought stress. The highest protein content was obtained from
drought stress at grain formation stage. Cultivars had an influence on
grain yield and yield components. Yavaros and Seimareh cultivars
had the highest and lowest grain yield, respectively. Interaction effect
between drought stress and cultivar had a significant effect on grain
and yield components. Full irrigation and Yavaros cultivar had the
highest grain yield and drought stress at grain formation stage and
Seimareh cultivar had the lowest grain yield, respectively.
Abstract: The development of the agricultural sector in Ghana
has been reliant on the use of irrigation systems to ensure food
security. However, the manual operation of these systems has not
facilitated their maximum efficiency due to human limitations.
This paper seeks to address this problem by designing and
implementing an efficient, cost effective automated system which
monitors and controls the water flow of irrigation through
communication with an authorized operator via text messages. The
automatic control component of the system is timer based with an
Atmega32 microcontroller and a real time clock from the SM5100B
cellular module. For monitoring purposes, the system sends periodic
notification of the system on the performance of duty via SMS to the
authorized person(s). Moreover, the GSM based Irrigation
Monitoring and Control System saves time and labour and reduces
cost of operating irrigation systems by saving electricity usage and
conserving water.
Field tests conducted have proven its operational efficiency and
ease of assessment of farm irrigation equipment due to its costeffectiveness
and data logging capabilities.
Abstract: Different services based on different switching
techniques in wireless networks leads to drastic changes in the
properties of network traffic. Because of these diversities in services,
network traffic is expected to undergo qualitative and quantitative
variations. Hence, assumption of traffic characteristics and the
prediction of network events become more complex for the wireless
networks. In this paper, the traffic characteristics have been studied
by collecting traces from the mobile switching centre (MSC). The
traces include initiation and termination time, originating node, home
station id, foreign station id. Traffic parameters namely, call interarrival
and holding times were estimated statistically. The results
show that call inter-arrival and distribution time in this wireless
network is heavy-tailed and follow gamma distributions. They are
asymptotically long-range dependent. It is also found that the call
holding times are best fitted with lognormal distribution. Based on
these observations, an analytical model for performance estimation is
also proposed.
Abstract: Renewable energy is derived from natural processes
that are replenished constantly. Included in the definition is
electricity and heat generated from solar, wind, ocean, hydropower,
biomass, geothermal resources, and bio-fuels and hydrogen derived
from renewable resources. Each of these sources has unique
characteristics which influence how and where they are used. This
paper presents the modeling the simulation of solar and hydro hybrid
energy sources in MATLAB/SIMULINK environment. It simulates
all quantities of Hybrid Electrical Power system (HEPS) such as AC
output current of the inverter that injected to the load/grid, load
current, grid current. It also simulates power output from PV and
Hydraulic Turbine Generator (HTG), power delivered to or from grid
and finally power factor of the inverter for PV, HTG and grid. The
proposed circuit uses instantaneous p-q (real-imaginary) power
theory.
Abstract: In this paper a scheme is proposed for generating
a programmable current reference which can be implemented
in the CMOS technology. The current can be varied over a
wide range by changing an external voltage applied to one
of the control gates of FGMOS (Floating Gate MOSFET).
For a range of supply voltages and temperature, CMOS
current reference is found to be dependent, this dependence
is compensated by subtracting two current outputs with the
same dependencies on the supply voltage and temperature.
The system performance is found to improve with the
use of FGMOS. Mathematical analysis of the proposed
circuit is done to establish supply voltage and temperature
independence. Simulation and performance evaluation of the
proposed current reference circuit is done using TANNER
EDA Tools. The current reference shows the supply and
temperature dependencies of 520 ppm/V and 312 ppm/oC,
respectively. The proposed current reference can operate down
to 0.9 V supply.
Abstract: The current study explored the effect of economic
development, financial development and institutional quality on
environmental destruction in upper-middle income countries during
the time period of 1999-2011. The dependent variable is logarithm of
carbon dioxide emissions that can be considered as an index for
destruction or quality of the environment given to its effects on the
environment. Financial development and institutional development
variables as well as some control variables were considered. In order
to study cross-sectional correlation among the countries under study,
Pesaran and Friz test was used. Since the results of both tests show
cross-sectional correlation in the countries under study, seemingly
unrelated regression method was utilized for model estimation. The
results disclosed that Kuznets’ environmental curve hypothesis is
confirmed in upper-middle income countries and also, financial
development and institutional quality have a significant effect on
environmental quality. The results of this study can be considered by
policy makers in countries with different income groups to have
access to a growth accompanied by improved environmental quality.
Abstract: Microarray technology is universally used in the study
of disease diagnosis using gene expression levels. The main
shortcoming of gene expression data is that it includes thousands of
genes and a small number of samples. Abundant methods and
techniques have been proposed for tumor classification using
microarray gene expression data. Feature or gene selection methods
can be used to mine the genes that directly involve in the
classification and to eliminate irrelevant genes. In this paper
statistical measures like T-Statistics, Signal-to-Noise Ratio (SNR)
and F-Statistics are used to rank the genes. The ranked genes are used
for further classification. Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO)
algorithm and Shuffled Frog Leaping (SFL) algorithm are used to
find the significant genes from the top-m ranked genes. The Naïve
Bayes Classifier (NBC) is used to classify the samples based on the
significant genes. The proposed work is applied on Lung and Ovarian
datasets. The experimental results show that the proposed method
achieves 100% accuracy in all the three datasets and the results are
compared with previous works.
Abstract: The main goal of this paper was evaluate the effect of
diets containing different levels of probiotic on performance and milk
composition of lactating cows.
Eight Holstein cows were distributed in two 4x4 Latin square. The
diets were based on corn silage, concentrate and the treatment (0, 3, 6
or 9 grams of probiotic/animal/day). It was evaluated the dry matter
intake of nutrients, milk yield and composition.
The use of probiotics did not affect the nutrient intake (p>0.05)
neither the daily milk production or corrected to 4% fat (p>0.05).
However, it was observed that there was a significant fall in milk
composition with higher levels of probiotics supplementation.
These results emphasize the need of further studies with different
experimental designs or improve the number of Latin square with
longer periods of adaptation.
Abstract: Since, today in most countries around the world much
attention is paid to planning the smallest unit in the city i.e. the
residential neighborhoods to achieve sustainable urban development
goals, a variety of assessment tools have been developed to assess
and monitor the sustainability of new developments. One of the most
reliable and widely used assessment tools is LEED-ND rating system.
This paper whit the aim of assessing sustainability level of Roshdieh
neighborhood in Tabriz, has introduced this rating system and applied
it in the study area. The results indicate that Roshdieh has the
potential of achieving the standards of sustainable neighborhoods, but
the present situation is far from the ideal point.
Abstract: A finite difference/front tracking method is used to
study the motion of three-dimensional deformable drops suspended in
plane Poiseuille flow at non-zero Reynolds numbers. A parallel
version of the code was used to study the behavior of suspension on a
reasonable grid resolution (grids). The viscosity and density of drops
are assumed to be equal to that of the suspending medium. The effect
of the Reynolds number is studied in detail. It is found that drops
with small deformation behave like rigid particles and migrate to an
equilibrium position about half way between the wall and the
centerline (the Segre-Silberberg effect). However, for highly
deformable drops there is a tendency for drops to migrate to the
middle of the channel, and the maximum concentration occurs at the
centerline. The effective viscosity of suspension and the fluctuation
energy of the flow across the channel increases with the Reynolds
number of the flow.
Abstract: Due to the advancement of Internet technology, online
learning is widely used in higher education institutions. Online
learning offers several means of communication, including online
forum. Through online forum, students and instructors are able to
discuss and share their knowledge and expertise without having a
need to attend the face-to-face, ordinary classroom session. The
purposes of this study are to analyze the students’ levels of
participation and critical thinking, types of action and factors
influencing their participation in online forum. A total of 41
postgraduate students undertaking a course in educational technology
from a public university in Malaysia were involved in this study. In
this course, the students participated in a weekly online forum as part
of the course requirement. Based on the log data file extracted from
the online forum, the students’ type of actions (view, add, update,
delete posts) and their levels of participation (passive, moderate or
active) were identified. In addition, the messages posted in the forum
were analyzed to gauge their level of critical thinking. Meanwhile,
the factors that might influence their online forum participation were
measured using a 24-items questionnaire. Based on the log data, a
total of 105 posts were sent by the participants. In addition, the
findings show that (i) majority of the students are moderate
participants, with an average of two to three posts per person, (ii)
viewing posts are the most frequent type of action (85.1%), and
followed by adding post (9.7%). Furthermore, based on the posts
they made, the most frequent type of critical thinking observed was
justification (50 input or 19.0%), followed by linking ideas and
interpretation (47 input or 18%), and novelty (38 input or 14.4%).
The findings indicate that online forum allows for social interaction
and can be used to measure the students’ critical thinking skills. In
order to achieve this, monitoring students’ activities in the online
forum is recommended.
Abstract: The asynchronous discussion forum is one of the most
widely used activities in learning management system environment.
Online forum allows participants to interact, construct knowledge,
and can be used to complement face to face sessions in blended
learning courses. However, to what extent do the students perceive
the benefits or advantages of forum remain to be seen. Through
content and social network analyses, instructors will be able to gauge
the students’ engagement and knowledge construction level. Thus,
this study aims to analyze the students’ level of knowledge
construction and their participation level that occur through online
discussion. It also attempts to investigate the relationship between the
level of knowledge construction and their social interaction patterns.
The sample involves 23 students undertaking a master course in one
public university in Malaysia. The asynchronous discussion forum
was conducted for three weeks as part of the course requirement. The
finding indicates that the level of knowledge construction is quite
low. Also, the density value of 0.11 indicating the overall
communication among the participants in the forum is low. This
study reveals that strong and significant correlations between SNA
measures (in-degree centrality, out-degree centrality) and level of
knowledge construction. Thus, allocating these active students in
different group aids the interactive discussion takes place. Finally,
based upon the findings, some recommendations to increase students’
level of knowledge construction and also for further research are
proposed.
Abstract: Lately, asynchronous discussion forum is integrated in
higher educational institutions as it may increase learning process,
learners’ understanding, achievement and knowledge construction.
The asynchronous discussion forum is used to complement the
traditional, face-to-face learning session in hybrid learning courses.
However, studies have proven that students’ engagement in online
forums is still unconvincing. Thus, the aim of this study is to
investigate the motivating factors and obstacles that affect the
learners’ engagement in asynchronous discussion forum. This study
is carried out in one of the public higher educational institutions in
Malaysia with 18 postgraduate students as samples. The authors have
developed a 40-items questionnaire based on literature review. The
results indicate several factors that have encouraged or limited
students’ engagement in asynchronous discussion forum: (a) the
practices or behaviors of peers, or instructors, (b) the needs for the
discussions, (c) the learners’ personalities, (d) constraints in
continuing the discussion forum, (e) lack of ideas, (f) the level of
thoughts, (g) the level of knowledge construction, (h) technical
problems, (i) time constraints and (j) misunderstanding. This study
suggests some recommendations to increase the students’
engagement in online forums. Finally, based upon the findings, some
implications are proposed for further research.
Abstract: The sub-task pattern in terms of deviations and defects
should be identified and understood in order to improve the quality of
practices in construction projects. Therefore, sub-task susceptibility
to exposure to deviations and defects has been evaluated and
classified via six classifications proposed in this study. Thirty-four
case studies of specific sub-tasks (from compression members in
constructed concrete structures) were collected from seven
construction projects in order to examine the study’s proposed
classifications. The study revealed that the sub-task has a high
sensitivity to deviation, where 91% of the cases were recorded as
deviations; however, only 19% of cases were recorded as defects.
Other findings were that the actual work during the execution process
is a high source of deviation for this sub-task (74%), while only 26%
of the source of deviation was due to both design documentation and
the actual work. These findings significantly imply that the study’s
proposed classifications could be used to determine the pattern of
each sub-task and develop proactive actions to overcome issues of
sub-task deviations and defects.
Abstract: Life Cycle Cost (LCC) is one of the goals and key
pillars of the construction management science because it comprises
many of the functions and processes necessary, which assist
organisations and agencies to achieve their goals. It has therefore
become important to design and control assets during their whole life
cycle, from the design and planning phase through to disposal phase.
LCCA is aimed to improve the decision making system in the
ownership of assets by taking into account all the cost elements
including to the asset throughout its life.
Current application of LCC approach is impractical during
misunderstanding of the advantages of LCC. This main objective of
this research is to show a different relationship between capital cost
and long-term running costs. One hundred and thirty eight actual
building projects in United Kingdom (UK) were used in order to
achieve and measure the above-mentioned objective of the study. The
result shown that LCC is one of the most significant tools should be
considered on the decision making process.
Abstract: This experimental study aims at studying the
conversion of macro-algae into bioethanol under several steps of
procedure: preparation, pre-treatment, fermentation, and distillation.
The main objective of this work was to investigate the role of buffer’s
type as a stabiliser of pH level and fermentation time on the yield of
ethanol. For this purpose, experiments were carried out on biomass
macro-algae to de-couple the pre-treatment and fermentation
processes from those associated with distillation process. β-
glucosidase was used as cellulose decomposer during hydrolysis step
and yeast was used during fermentation process. The species of
macro-algae utilised as energy feedstock was Ulva lactuca and it was
harvested from southern coast of Central of Java Island – Indonesia.
Experiments were conducted in a simple fermenter over a different
buffer: citrate buffer and acetic buffer, and over a range of
fermentation times between 5 to 20 days. The ethanol production was
found to be significantly affected by both variables. The optimum
time of fermentation was 10 days with citrate buffer; result in
0.88458% of ethanol, and the ethanol content after distillation
process was shown 0.985015%.
Abstract: Cloud service brokering is a new service paradigm that
provides interoperability and portability of application across multiple
Cloud providers. In this paper, we designed Cloud service brokerage
system, anyBroker, supporting integrated service provisioning and
SLA based service lifecycle management. For the system design, we
introduce the system concept and whole architecture, details of main
components and use cases of primary operations in the system. These
features ease the Cloud service provider and customer’s concern and
support new Cloud service open market to increase Cloud service
profit and prompt Cloud service echo system in Cloud computing
related area.
Abstract: Most quality models have defined usability as a
significant factor that leads to improving product acceptability,
increasing user satisfaction, improving product reliability, and also
financially benefitting companies. Usability is also the best factor that
balances both the technical and human aspects of a software product,
which is an important aspect in defining quality during software
development process. A usability risk consist risk factors that could
impact the usability of a software product thereby contributing to
negative user experiences and causing a possible software product
failure. Hence, it is important to mitigate and reduce usability risks in
the software development process itself. By managing possible
usability risks in software development process, failure of software
product could be reduced. Therefore, this research uses the Delphi
method to identify mitigation plans for reducing potential usability
risks. The Delphi method is conducted with seven experts from the
field of risk management and software development.
Abstract: There are several methods to monitor software
projects and the objective for monitoring is to ensure that the
software projects are developed and delivered successfully. A
performance measurement is a method that is closely associated with
monitoring and it can be scrutinized by looking at two important
attributes which are efficiency and effectiveness both of which are
factors that are important for the success of a software project.
Consequently, a successful steering is achieved by monitoring and
controlling a software project via the performance measurement
criteria and metrics. Hence, this paper is aimed at identifying the
performance measurement criteria and the metrics for monitoring the
performance of a software project by using the Goal Question
Metrics (GQM) approach. The GQM approach is utilized to ensure
that the identified metrics are reliable and useful. These identified
metrics are useful guidelines for project managers to monitor the
performance of their software projects.
Abstract: In our paper we describe the security capabilities of
data collection. Data are collected with probes located in the near and
distant surroundings of the company. Considering the numerous
obstacles e.g. forests, hills, urban areas, the data collection is realized
in several ways. The collection of data uses connection via wireless
communication, LAN network, GSM network and in certain areas
data are collected by using vehicles. In order to ensure the connection
to the server most of the probes have ability to communicate in
several ways. Collected data are archived and subsequently used in
supervisory applications.
To ensure the collection of the required data, it is necessary to
propose algorithms that will allow the probes to select suitable
communication channel.